Unhealthy plants and troublesome algae

[calsip]

It’s been 3 weeks of lower light and two weeks of increased CO2. Changes are…

Green dust algae (is that what it is?) is still growing fast. Ottos are clearing some of the rocks but not touching the wood or glass.

Green thread algae is much improved. Less growing in a week than what was previously removed daily.

Diatoms slightly better I think. The Monte Carlo wasn’t looking too bad until it was trimmed and the exposed patches then spread. New leaves coming through now so hoping that will help.

The Staurogyne Repens and the Rotala Vietnam H'ra have bigger gaps on the stems in between the leaves, presumably due to the lower light. The Rotala Vietnam H'ra is way less bushy than before it was cut back and also much more green/yellow. It’s only gone really orange/red close to the surface.

I’m wondering if we should (either now or when the algae is better under control) increase the light and cut the stem plants back down to where they were when the light was decreased? Would leave the trimmings float.

I found a photo of the day the plants went into the tank and the veins were just as visible on the Staurogyne Repens. I guess that means that either they’ve been starved of the magnesium (or iron or whatever it is?) both in our tank and while tropica was growing them (seems unlikely?) or are a strain that has prominent veins.

 

[Bradders]

Have you got hard to grow plants in that aquarium?

 

[calsip]

Not that I know of. Rated Easy/Medium by Tropica..

 

[Bradders]

Scrape the algae off one side of the aquarium glass (just one side of the tank to act as a comparison point) so that it looks pristine and completely algae-free. As if new.

It would be good to see the rate of growth of the glass algae after the clean.

 

[calsip]

Aside from some hard to reach spots, the kid pretty much cleaned it all off on Sunday. We’ll do a side tomorrow though getting it as clean as possible. There’s an untouched bit below the heater which will hopefully do for comparison.

 

[John q]

Hiya @calisp I think the overall plant health and reduction of thread algae is a sign the tank is heading in the right direction.

two weeks of increased CO2.

Are you now getting a nice emerald/lime green dc at or shortly after the lights come on, and staying this colour until the gas goes off?

Green dust algae (is that what it is?) is still growing fast. Ottos are clearing some of the rocks but not touching the wood or glass.

These areas need human intervention. Wipe the glass and scrub the wood with an old toothbrush. Also remember to follow any algae cleaning/removal with a large water change.

I’m wondering if we should (either now or when the algae is better under control) increase the light

If the worst of the algae is receding you might want to hold your nerve for a couple more weeks before increasing the intensity. Any issues with the plants regards lack of light can be corrected within a week or so, a resurgence of the thread algae could set you back another month.

Remind me again what you add ferts wise to the tank.
18ml Tnc weekly.
½ teaspoon Magnesium Sulphate.
0.1 fe from eddha.
Is the above correct.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Ottos are clearing some of the rocks but not touching the wood or glass.

They <"only really eat diatoms">, so much of the algae isn't really of any interest to them. This is also why you need to supplementary feed them with vegetables etc.

Snails are more efficient at <"browsing the biofilm">. I like <"Red Ramshorn (Planorbella duryi) snails">, they are tolerant of softer water and form a <"self-sustaining population">.

cheers Darrel

 

[calsip]

Are you now getting a nice emerald/lime green dc at or shortly after the lights come on, and staying this colour until the gas goes off?

It’s the right colour I think (I’ll get a photo) but it takes a while after lights on for it to reach that colour. I thought it just needed to happen within 2 hours of lights on since that’s how long the drop checker can take to react - is that not right?

These areas need human intervention. Wipe the glass and scrub the wood with an old toothbrush. Also remember to follow any algae cleaning/removal with a large water change

I should have said, the kid did exactly that on Sunday. The first pic is before he did it and the other two were after that and a 50% water change.

hold your nerve for a couple more weeks before increasing the intensity.

Will do!

18ml Tnc weekly.
½ teaspoon Magnesium Sulphate.
0.1 fe from eddha.
Is the above correct.

No fe yet but otherwise that’s right. Was holding off on the fe until it was certain the magnesium sulphate wasn’t helping. Having seen that the plants looked the same on day 1, I wasn’t going to get any fe now. Do you think it’s still worth trying?

 

[calsip]

They <"only really eat diatoms">, so much of the algae isn't really of any interest to them.

Oh, I didn’t know that. They went crazy when we first had them and did an amazing job of clearing all the algae off the glass before moving onto the wood and the rocks. I assume they must have been starving in the fish shop & in transport before that.

I tried them on some Courgette a little while ago, just once so we knew we could feed them when the algae was gone. They took to that well but have been less interested in the algae since. Stuffed themselves and can afford to be more picky I guess..

 

[John q]

I thought it just needed to happen within 2 hours of lights on since that’s how long the drop checker can take to react - is that not right?

The rule of thumb is 1~2 hours but every DC will be different, if you aim for the change to happen within an hour you can be more confident the co2 levels are where they need to be at lights on. If the drop checker colour is currently remaining the same from 2hrs in it might just be a case of starting the gas a bit earlier to achieve this.

I should have said, the kid did exactly that on Sunday. The first pic is before he did it and the other two were after that and a 50% water change

My misunderstanding.

I wasn’t going to get any fe now. Do you think it’s still worth trying?

Yeah I think it's worth a go, clearly the magnesium hasn't cured the chlorosis, so definitely worth trying to rule in/rule out things.
Only thing I'd say is it might be worth adding a bit of extra manganese into the mix also, deficiency of Mn can also cause similar symptoms to Fe in new growth so may as well try a double pronged attack.

To save you the cost and hassle of trying to procure various chemicals pm me your address and I'll send you (gratis) a pre bagged (just add water) mix of Dtpa 11% iron spiked with Manganese.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I tried them on some Courgette a little while ago, just once so we knew we could feed them when the algae was gone. They took to that well but have been less interested in the algae since. Stuffed themselves and can afford to be more picky I guess..

Honestly you need to offer them supplementary vegetables all the time, they need to eat pretty much constantly or they become moribund and die.

cheers Darrel

 

[calsip]

Thanks @John q ! That’s a really kind offer 🙂

I’ll set the CO2 to come on an hour earlier and we’ll keep vegetables available for the ottos - thanks both!

 

[calsip]

This was 1 hour after lights on today - and yes that is a test tube.. I broke the glass drop checker 🙈 New one is on its way.

I’ll check it later in the day but it doesn’t usually change much if at all.

 

[calsip]

Scrape the algae off one side of the aquarium glass (just one side of the tank to act as a comparison point) so that it looks pristine and completely algae-free. As if new.

It would be good to see the rate of growth of the glass algae after the clean.

It's 10 days since the front of the tank was cleaned really well:



Here's how it looked after 7 days:



How does that seem?

The tank had a big clean 17 days ago and there been pretty limited attempts at removing any algae since then - probably twice a week at most. It's 3 days since any thread algae was last cleaned up so that's a massive improvement on how it was. Diatoms seem relatively good too.

The lad is keen to trim the Rotala Vietnam H'ra and remove the unplanted Hygrophila Polysperma - partly because it looks untidy but also because the flow is being impacted quite significantly. Is this a bad idea?

 

[Bradders]

It's 10 days since the front of the tank was cleaned really well:

Here's how it looked after 7 days:

View attachment 217286

How does that seem?

So, that picture above is how it looks after 7 days post the deep clean?

 

[calsip]

So, that picture above is how it looks after 7 days post the deep clean?

It is, yes

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The lad is keen to trim the Rotala Vietnam H'ra and remove the unplanted Hygrophila Polysperma - partly because it looks untidy but also because the flow is being impacted quite significantly. Is this a bad idea?

I wouldn't reduce the plant mass any. Plant health look fine, but I'm going to guess that you have more light and nutrients than your plants fully utilise. So you need either more plant mass or less light intensity. I always have <"more plants">, but I have <"no sense of aesthetics">.

This was 1 hour after lights on today - and yes that is a test tube..I’ll check it later in the day but it doesn’t usually change much, if at all.

What does it look like now? The test tube won't work, because it doesn't have an air gap to let the CO2 diffuse across. That is why <"Drop Checkers"> are shaped the way they are with the kink.

If you had the test tube upside down the gas would be collected, but the drop checker solution lost to the tank, and the right way up you would retain the drop checker solution, but there isn't any way for the gas to diffuse in.

cheers Darrel

 

[calsip]

Just dug out my old DSLR... it's not the best but much more realistic than the iphone..

 

[calsip]

 

[Bradders]

Hmmm. We the light intensity looks quite low to my eyes. Anyone else agree/disagree?